Propeller



C. E BURRQUGHSL PROPELLER. APPLICATION FILED SEPTJG, 1817.,

1,378,655. Patented m 17,1921,

CHARLES E. nnnnouens, or CINCINNATI, OHIO.

PROPELLER.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 17, 1921.

. Application filed September 26, 1917. Serial No. 193,251.

f all whom itinay concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. BUR- v RoUcHs, a citizen ofthe United States of America, and a 'resident of Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio,

have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Propellers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to propellers that have a central mounting and driving shaft or axis and a multiple of blades extending from the periphery of such-shaft for 1mpingement against .or in contact with the air or water, asthe case may be, to advance the craft in flight, andit consists, more especially, in the fact that its propelling-blades are of such form and are so mounted on said driving-shaft thatthe axis of the latter is not at right-angles to any line whatever of the plane of the surface of any of the said blades and wherebytheclearance of the blades is such as not to retard in any manner or degree their action on the air or water, when the craft is used, but to develop the desired propelling power to drive the craft at the desired speeds without slip, as well as without the betraying noises heretofore existing in theuse of blades of the screw or helical type present in connection w1th aeroplanes.

In the accompanying sheet of draw1ngs,-

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my 1nvention at the outer broken-off end of the propeller-shaft that is located at the rear of the craft; Fig. 2, a rear elevation of the propeller containing my invention and showing the shaft in cross-section; Fig. 8, a longitudinal elevation of the shaft, shown broken off, and a longitudinal section of the hub or sleeve on which the propeller-bla des are mounted on the shaft at other than rightangles to its axis, such blades being partly in section and partly in elevation; and Fig. 4, a plan of one of my improved propellerblades. V

1 indicates the driving-shaft carrying at its outer or rear end a sleeve or hub 2 that v is suitably secured in place to rotate therewith, and armed or studded with a number of projecting blades 3 (four being shown in Figs. 1 and 2, but obviously more or less may be used to conform to the many purposes and conditions required).

4 indicates ,guy-wires stretched between the blades 3 and provided with turn-buckles 5 for tighteningthem or taking up slack, or

for preserving-the angle of inclination or pitch of the blades to which they are attached at one end and with their other ends attached to a ring or flange 6 at the outer end of the hub or sleeve, all as shown in Fig. l. a

Each blade 3 is made flat, with plane faces both sides, and of rectangularform in outline, but with its outer end slightly beveled and curved, the curvature being that'of an arc of a circle beginning at the outer lefthand corner 7 and gradually rising or extending outwardly to the right-hand corner 8, and with its inner end having a straight edge that is deflected at 9 toward its lower inner corner 10 where it is recessed or notched to conform and seat in secured relation to the periphery of the hub 2 on the central driving-shaft 1, all as best shown in Fig. 2.

The cutting or cleaving v longitudinal edge 11 of each blade is beveled and the two main flat or plane surfaces of the blade are smooth so as to reduce friction to a minimum.

In referring to the pitch at which it is preferred the several blades should all be set, it will be observed, in Fig. 3, that the inner end of each blade slopes at an acute angle toward the outer end of the shaft and its axis, and the plane or outer face of the bodyportion of the blade slopes at an obtuse angle away from the said axis. Thus the axis of the propeller-shaft is not at right-angles to any line of the plane of the surface of the blades that it carries, and the tendency of theblades, therefore, is to get a full impingement on the air for advancing the craft at the desired speed, a speed of great velocity and power being attained without material vibration and at the least possible expenditure of motive power to rotate the shaft.

The propeller is placed at the stern or rear of the craft, whether of air or of water type, or a combination of both, and where it properly belongs, for the safety and comfort of the pilot or driver of the machine, obviating of speed, the circle swept by the inner ends of the successive plane faced, flat blades assumes a saucer-shape cavity or vortex that forms a whirlpool or the like to draw in the air from the outer ends of the blades toward the axis and from whence it is dispelled backwardly in a column or'shaft of great force and high velocity that serves to impel the craft forwardly at the desired speed, dependent, of course, on the engine or motive power available.

The steering of the craft is very materially facilitated by the employment of my form of propeller herein, and its use in connection with torpedoes, for speed and precision, is of the very highest eliiciency, especially in striking with greater force and accuracy the object of attack.

The propeller herein is adapted to air and water craft alike, and to reverse movements thereof, whether forward or backward, as desired.

The blades are, as very clearly shown, neither spiral nor helical and are otherwise simply plane-faced, flat ones, easily made, replaced and repaired, and at a minimum of cost. 7

The arrow 12 in Fig. 1 indicates the direction of the swift and powerful column or shaft of wind that is projected or expelled from the propeller in its wake as the craft advances. The other arrow 13 in Figs. 1 and 2 indicates the direction of rotation of the propeller in the advance movement of the craft.

A propeller for air and water craft comprising an axis or driving-shaft, a sleeve or hub mounted on and adapted to rotate with said driving-shaft, a circular series of rectangular, plane-faced, flat blades projecting from said sleeve and having their respective outer ends slightly beveled and curved such curvature being that of an arc of a circle beginning at the outer left-hand '2:

corner of the respective blades and gradually rising or extending outwardly to the right-hand corner of each blade, and extensible guy-wires stretched from one blade to the next one of the series of blades and thence to the outer end of said sleeve and thereby adapted to adjustably sustain the Hat plane-faced blades whereby the said driving-shaft shall always be longitudinally-oblique but not at any point at rightangles to any line of the plane of the flat surface of the several blades of the propeller, substantially as shown and described.

CHARLES E. BURROUGHS. 

